Leadership Perspectives
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The Clarity of the Call at this Present Hour:A Reflection On Contemporary American Culture And Christianity
Overall, the American scene is a mixed bag of values. As a culture it is an evangelistic culture, thanks to the long standing Christian religious tradition and influence that goes back to the great revivals of the past. Of this, even the secular media notices and readily concedes. You can hear it in pop culture, in political speeches, and even in the salesman pitch. Indeed, the downside to the evangelistic predisposition since modernity is that it also accounts for the consumerism and materialism that characterizes and derails much of pious expression.
By influence I am not referring to what politicians call the religious right. I do not by any chance subscribe to such categorization as the Church of our Lord is entirely different in its disposition and priorities and far much broader in its encompassing. If anything, the great tragedy in contemporary America is that the church is politicized on the one hand and psychologized and trivialized on the other. Rather than being a separatist political group, we are the salt of the earth and light of the world which although distinct from culture, we work most transformationally when distributed in the culture. Our priorities, although tied in with those of the general culture, are predicated entirely upon a different superstructure: The worship of God through Jesus Christ. We are fueled by the Great Commandment: to Love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and might and our neighbor as ourselves. We are rallied by the Great Commission - to go into the whole world and make disciples of all people.
Have you noticed, however, the trend in our churches in the recent days? At a time when we have the most abundant access to Scripture have you noticed the absence of Bibles in the pews as American Christians are lulled to sleep with piecemeal fancy screen texts that often fail to provide contextual exploration - that Berean virtue that was highly extolled by Paul? Is it any wonder that the Los Angeles Times recently pointed out that the American landscape is a nation of faith and religious illiterates?
Have you noticed further the conditioning and gradual elimination of the call to spiritual excellence and to sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom, substituted by a cheap subscription to a self-focused and self-advancing proclamation? Suddenly it is o.k. just to be an average Christian. It is o.k. not to let others know Whom you believe. Lest you appear to be more spiritual than others, it is o.k. not to bring your Bible to church? Many of us decry the lapses of the church in medieval Europe and the historical reputation the church gained during those times of great darkness. We forget, however, that part of the reason for the degeneration was the confinement of Scriptural knowledge to the elite few in spite a professing majority. Thus, manipulation by the powerful became easy to accomplish! Just thinking!
Have you noticed how some of us are unduly nervous regarding the receptivity of the Message in our time and would rather be silent than raffle the waters? Evangelism is slighted, proclamation is disavowed, and bible-driven teaching is rejected as out-dated. Enamored by post-modernity and the prevalent skepticism in the secular arena, we have lost confidence in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ which confounds principalities, powers, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. The power of the risen Christ which is the domain of the church should bring every thought into captivity and to the obedience of Christ to whom we are called to be active witnesses.
We have caved in to a post-modernist view. That which contents that there is not a future since the once hoped-for future of the human race has arrived. The ages have come to an end. Now everything that once was is to be recuperated and used – as we like- in our fashioning. This view embraces a vast proliferation in all areas of life, but without direction. Indeed without a future can there be direction or point to our endeavors?
We ought to and must decry the absence of spiritual dialogue backed by manifest outworking of God's Spirit in the American market place hungry for authenticity. For the greateFebruary Article: African Chritianity
Rethinking Discipleship In the 21st Century Africa
In the opening statements to his book The Church of Irresistible Influence, Robert Lewis quotes Robert Kennedy who said, “Some men see things as they are and say ‘why?’…I dream of things that are not, and say ‘why not?’” There is perhaps no place that has evoked more “why?” questions in a majority of spheres in the last one hundred years because of the way things have been than Africa. In the first sixty, the question was precipitated by a variety of reasons including European imperialism and colonialism which in their aftermath left communities dehumanized and demoralized. Thereafter in the last forty and with similar effect, it has been due to reasons of homebred impudence and inept governmental, moral, socio-cultural and economic structures whose modus operandi was guided by a philosophy devoid of a serious biblical worldview. The state and impact of the Christian faith and practice in the meantime was largely insignificant with her minority voice drowned in the melodrama. With the arrival of the twenty-first century however, Africa may have a new lease to life with her Christian sons and daughters now holding her promise and potential and capable of asking the “why not?” question. The impetus to this tonal change is the emergent statistical realization that her evangelical community, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, is one of the fasted growing on the globe and is no longer draped in minority identity.
If history serves us well and if as expected where high adherence to Christian beliefs abounds there also abound great moral and socio-cultural and therefore possible economic transformations, then we are in for a new dawn. A new dawn whose overriding question is “why not?” Such a question is conspicuous because a genuine and honest faith in Christ implies the practice of what is professed, whose principles when rightly explored, result in inevitable amelioration of collective society and triumph of good over evil as the people of God pursue the themes of the homecoming future of God, born out of ancient faith, which are justice for the poor, peace for the nations, redemption of the people of God, restoration of community, renewal of creation, and the celebration of the shalom purposes of God for a people and a world.
It is 8 O, Clock Sunday morning in the sunny city of Nairobi-Kenya. In this largely Christian nation, except for restaurants and lately western style malls, shops are closed. There is little activity on the city streets except pools of smartly dressed individuals bearing bibles under their arms on their way to places of worship. You board a bus and head toward Valley Road, the street on which Nairobi Pentecostal Church is located. As you alight by the church gates, you notice huge crowds of people in front of each door of the hexagonal building waiting to enter in. You are informed that the first service which starts at seven is almost over and that for people to find seats in the second service which starts at half past eight in the five thousand sitter sanctuary, they have to queue at the doors for at least fifteen minutes. This is repeated for all of the four services of the day that have to run for exactly an hour fifteen minutes. You enter in and discover that in fact you are lucky to find a sit anywhere including the balcony. The welcoming pastor repeats to the congregation their hospitality mantra amidst congregational chuckle which is “SOS!” translated as “squeeze over somebody!” a call to create room enough to open up the isles for the ushers and for easier movement for people. You notice also that some of the elders seated on the pastoral pew are senior government officials.
The uniformed ushers are prompt to shut the doors as soon as the choir starts singing and those people running late have to wait for subsequent services. Then as the worship gets underway, it is not only extremely vibrant singing, but in fact there is clapping and a palpable presence of the Holy Spirit. There is obvious joy and enthusiasm as the pastor presents the message but because he is pressed for time, he does not exceed 35 minutes of preaching. You notice further that in fact the crowds are not because of a highly gifted preacher or a well crafted sermon. It is because of the genuine presence of God. You also notice that apart from the main adult services and concurrent youth and children services conducted from different locations on the campus and equally run back to back, there is hardly room for anything else; no Sunday school hour or time to connect with other church members.
This is roughly the picture of the popularity, promise and potential of the urban evangelical church in Sub-Saharan Africa today in countries such as Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana. According to recent research, overall the pews of Africa’s churches now hold 390 million worshippers – more than three times the total of 35 years ago and over the next two decades it is predicted that Africa’s congregations may grow by another 200 million.
It is common knowledge, however, that the church’s numerical increase alone in any society does not always translate to or imply moral, socio-cultural, economic, and governmental transformation. At present for instance, in spite the increasing evangelical population, there is yet to be a quantitatively visible impact in the reduction of vices in the public domain in a majority of the Sub-Saharan African nations. This leads us to conclude that transformation requires something more than conversion; it is incumbent upon effective discipleship. For there to be achievement and sustainability of the larger Kingdom objectives both within respective national borders and without on the global scene, I am convinced that things, in relation to discipleship, have to undergo a major overhaul before the “why not?” question meant to catapult the African evangelical Church into a formidable contributor to the global advancement of God’s Kingdom on earth can be satisfactorily answered.
To be continued...
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Shine in the World Int'l Ministries (SWIM)
1130 Grove Circle
Victoria, MN 55386, USA
Tel: 612-220-7999
Fax: 952-224-7301
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